Strawberry Chocolate Cake

What better way to celebrate your resignation? ........ a  BBQ party with your closest friends!! This is for Edwin Ho!!! After 13 years with the airlines, he decided to quit and be a full time tai tai!!! *envy! envy!*

I promised him I will not be there empty handed and I came out with this!! 

Made with lurve.............

VeRy Rich CHoCoLatE CupCaKe..:)

ValRhoNa ChoColaTe FroStinG!!

ToppEd WitH HeaRt ShaPE StrAwbErrY!!

 

Baked Blueberry Cheesecakes

These mouthwatering little cupcakes are specially baked for a lovely couple I know who are migrating to Melbourne on Sunday..:( I would like to wish them Bon voyage and all the best in their future..:P

"The pain of parting is nothing to the joy of meeting again"

Charles Dickens

Sawatdee Kaa!!

Please forgive me for this long overdue delay in blogging. I have been sick ever since I got back from Bangkok and Hua Hin last week. Have been sleeping early and resting a lot.. doctor's orders. Anyway, I am here now.. being a responsible friend.. telling you a hidden place in Bangkok where it is a MUST to go for YUMMY YUMMY local food!! Cheap too!!

I am very sorry but their name card is in Thai and I can't read Thai....:P You can give them a call for their address and just for your info, not all cab drivers are willing to drive you there. hehe...(they say it's too far)

Tel:678-2768

Some local vege. Juicy and succulent!

This is to die for!!!!!!!

Authentic river prawns with thread bean in claypot 

BBQ Snails...:D

BBQ Sotong

There are actually a few more dishes but me being greedy... hehe... Ate everything then only remembered I forgot to snap photos of it..:P

So far their standards have not disappointed me!!! Enjoy...................

Just before I left for Thailand, I came across this recipe while searching for my Passport! Haa... Looked at the ingredients and immediately I started baking.

I shall name it Thumbelina cookies because I use my thumb to indent a hole in the middle of the biscuits!!..:)

Ingredients

225g butter

100g castor sugar
250g plain flour, sifted
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
strawberry jam

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180C

2. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy, add sifted flour and vanilla essence, and mix well
3. Shape dough into 1/2 inch diameter balls and place on a lined cookie sheets
4. Imprint your thumb in the center to make an indentation
5. Fill it with strawberry jam
6. Bake for 10 minutes or until golden brown at the edges
7. Remove to cool on wire rack

8. Store them in a nice cookie jar and off they go.........

HAPPY EATING & BAKING!!!!

Double chocolate Raspberry Cupcakes

I was really excited bout baking these cupcakes because

Number one.... there were 2 new things i just bought and i couldn't wait to try it out!!!

Number two... I was baking for my ever efficient colleagues!!

Number three... I wanted to know how good these recipes were!

Presenting to you my 2 new toys:

1)ORGANIC vanilla essence!!

2)Seedless Raspberry Puree

(Can only be found in Culina shops)

(www.culina.com.sg)

I must say, so far these are my favourite cupcakes. Raspberry and chocolate goes very well together!!

This is now one of my favourite cupcakes! Rich and moist!! yum yum.......

Msg from my colleague Marie Raineiro

The cupcakes were great! I make my boyfriend try and both of us loved the fact that you slowly discover different taste in your mouth, starting with a chocolate mousse and then the choc cake and then you taste the raspberry mixing perfectly with the chocolate. Thanks again for this great culinary experience!! Marie..

CONGRATULATIONS TO WAHONO & SALLY!!

Firstly.... updates on "NORMAL" stuff..:D

Fried Tang HooN!!!!

This is one of the many great recipes I learned from Madam Ang. This is a very easy dish and you can add whatever ingredients you like or you can find in your fridge!!

Recipe:

1/2 packet of Tang hoon (soak it in hot water just before cooking)

1 big piece of Fishcake (sliced)

5-6 fresh prawns (shelled)

5-6 pieces of dried mushroom (soak for a few hours till soft and slice it - do not throw away the water)

Sauce: (Mix it in a bowl)

2 tbsp Oyster sauce

1 tbsp Dark soya sauce

"Mushroom water"

Loads of ground pepper

Salt to taste

This is the Brand i normally use..:P

Method:

Heat some oil in a wok. Fry fishcake and mushroom till golden brown and then add the prawns in. Cook for a minute or so.

Add in tang hoon and pour sauce over it. Fry the tang hoon and let it soak up the sauce. Once it's ready.. Serve it on a nice plate and DINNER is served! I have no one to impress today cause this is my lonely lunch but if you do have, don't forget to garnish the dish with some fried shallots, coriander leaves and red cut chilli!! YUMMY!!!!!

Now!! The interesting part!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Story telling time:

It is Sally's birthday today.

Wahono booked the whole cinema(GV Grand) - Movie: PS I LOVE YOU and invited a group of us to be there. He told Sally it was a company "outing" and Sally was a bit furious in the beginning cause she wanted to celebrate her birthday alone with Wahono and not out on a company outing! (I would be furious too). Anyway, just before the movie started..they played a really heartwarming and inspiring Acuvue trailer. Then came his 'home-made' montage slideshow containing all the nice pictures they had taken together over the years!!! At the end of the slideshow... he proposed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! How romantic right???!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He kneeled down with the 1+++++ carat ring in one hand and flowers on the other!!!!!! I cried even before the show started!! hahahaha..... and of course I cried again during the show!  You should catch the movie too.

So... for such a lovely couple I dug deep into my recipe books and decided to bake some 'Moist and nutty Brownies'..:) 

This recipe is adapted from Pierre Herme's 

"Chocolate Desserts"

ConGratulations Wahono and Sally!!

The Ke-po(busy-body) gang!

This is half of the slideshow just before he proposed!!! (Oh yeah.. I don't remember Sally saying YES! haha) Did she??? hmm.......

(note original music played was by Michael Buble  and when the words asking for Sally's hand appeared, you can see the shadow of Wahono standing up to propose)

Enjoy the slideshow!!

Quick and Simple Meal!

Jon n I didn't know what we should eat for dinner. Instead of driving to our favourite "makan" places, we drove to our favourite supermarket Cold Storage Jelita!! I picked up a baguette, pasta sauce, salami, mushroom and some gruyere cheese. Immediately we drove back and had "Make do" pizza with salami, mushroom and loads of cheese!! There is no recipe for this cause you can just top it up with basically anything you like!!!

Self explanatory!!!..:D

Happy Cooking!!

Frosting frosting frosting

The reason why i love baking so much is because I can have fun decorating my cakes/cupcakes! It is never wrong... never a standard item... never ugly... and you can never fail!!!

Although cakes/cupcakes can be served plain, it is the frosting that makes it The Cake/The CupCakes! There are so many different types of frosting. There is buttercream, ganache, fondant, royal icing and my personal favourite is cream cheese frosting!! 

Here are the recipes!

PEANUT BUTTER  ICING

60g Crunchy peanut butter

50g Unsalted butter, softened

2tsp Vanilla essence

115g Icing sugar, sieved

2tbsp milk

Combine peanut butter, butter and vanilla in the mixer bowl. Beat on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 1 to 2 minutes. Add icing sugar along with milk, and beat until well combined.

CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

200g Cream cheese(room temperature)

175g Icing sugar

1tbsp Lemon juice

1tsp Vanilla essence

Slowly beat the cream cheese and icing sugar in a mixer bowl until creamy and soft. Add lemon juice and vanilla and beat briskly until well combined. Swirl onto the cupcakes!

CHOCOLATE FUDGE ICING

100g Dark choco

2tbsp Milk

50g Unsalted butter

90g Icing sugar sieved

Gently heat the choco, milk and butter in a small, heavy-based saucepan, stirring until melted. Remove from the heat and beat in the icing sugar. Swirl the icing onto the cooled cupcakes..:D

EASIEST FROSTING OF ALL...

VANILLA BUTTERCREAM FROSTING

115g Softened unsalted butter

225g Icing sugar, sieved

1tsp Vanilla essence

2 tbsp milk

Cream the butter for 1-2 mins. Add milk, vanilla essence and half of the sifted icing sugar, and beat for at least 2 mins or until the mixture is light and fluffy. Add the remaining icing sugar and beat for a further 2 mins or until the mixture is light and fluffy and of a spreadable consistency. Add extra milk if the mixture is too dry or icing sugar if the mixture is too wet.

If you wish to colour or flavour the buttercream then this is the time to do it! 

Tip: Add a drop at a time(dip the end of a toothpick into the food colouring gel(I like to use Wilton Brand) and beat in until you reach the required colour or flavour!!

HAPPY FROSTING!!

Chocolate Mud Cupcakes

I've been baking a lot lately. I'm not sure if it's 'motherly instinct' or fear I'll never bake again when the little one comes along. Hmmm.. I've got so many people telling me "You'll never have the time!" I hope it's not true but I guess It's normal for mummies to wanna spend time with their loved ones whenever they can. Well.. you'll get to find out after June. If you don't see me updating my blog you'll understand. haha...

Maybe after that I'll change the name to BABYMANIA instead of cupcakemania. haha...

Anyway, here's a step by step recipe for those chocolate lovers out there. These cupcakes are so simple to make and it's really rich and moist!!!!!!!!! Enjoy.............

300g Dark/Milk Chocolate(I use valrhona)

300g Unsalted Butter

5        Eggs

115g Caster sugar

115g Self-raising flour

1/2 tsp Vanilla Essence

Preheat the oven to 160C.

In a medium bowl, melt butter and chocolate together in a microwave - 2-3 minutes on medium should be alright, stirring it well. (Or if you're not as lazy as me, have it in a bowl sitting over a pan of simmering water and let it cool before using)

Beat the eggs, sugar and vanilla until pale and thick.

I like to use this!! Highly recommended!!!! If you can't find it in any of your local stores dun worry bout it. Any vanilla essence will do..:P

When the batter is pale and creamy it should look something like this.

Fold the flour into the egg mixture...

Stir in the melted chocolate and butter until well blended

Spoon the mixture into the cases and bake for 20 minutes. (I like to use ice cream scoop in order to have equal distribution)

My chocolate babies ready to be baked!!

ABRA KADABRA!! 

You can choose to top them up with choc ganache..

Or pipe them with some simple red icing...

And top it up with sugar dolls..;) 

(Sugar dolls can be bought or if you have the time you can craft them on your own. I got these from Jurong East Phoon Huat. I can't remember how much i paid but pls do check out their website for more details www.phoonhuat.com. Altenatively, you can also get better quality sugar dolls from www.b-i-y.com but at a higher price)

My Sugar babies all dressed up for "Lou Hei"tonight....:)

(Wordings were rolled out from fondant)

HAPPY BAKING!!